“If you had any suspicions about my having something to do with Jenny’s death, you should know that I was still in Special Forces at that time and based in Afghanistan.”
“I know,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you might not have been in a position to— I understand your missions weren’t entirely confined to Afghanistan. You’re very clever, and you could have finagled something.”
“Finagled? That’s a fancy word for a good ole country boy like me.”
She snorted. “A country boy who majored in mathematics at MIT and turned down two prestigious European scholarships to enlist in the army.”
“Now how did you know that?”
“I dug. The same way that you probably went about trying to find out everything about me.”
“But I have a number of investigative sources at my disposal.”
“And I only have one. My friend, Kendra Michaels. But she has all kinds of friends in police and FBI circles. Though she did say that prying any information out of the military about you was like pulling teeth. Some of the things you did are still considered classified.”
“And why did you put her to that trouble?”
“I had to be sure.”
“But you’re still not entirely sure, are you? Why? Why not accept me as I am? Why dig?”
“Tit for tat?” She made a face. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I can’t say I liked much of what’s transpired tonight,” he said dryly. “Well, maybe a few things.”
His hands on her throat that should have been a threat and became …
She veered quickly away from that memory. “I couldn’t be sure of anything, so I had to check. There were questions about you…”
“What kind of questions? Who was asking them?”
She hesitated, then went for it. “Sajan.”
His jaw dropped. “Oh, my God.”
“I told you that you wouldn’t like it.”
“A coyote has questions about me?”
“Not exactly. You were just jumbled in with Walsh when I was melding with him.” She stared him in the eye. “But it confused me. Because Walsh wasn’t the only one searching in this forest. Sajan saw you, Nalchek. Not once, but many times.”
“When? Anyone can tell you I’ve been practically living in this forest since we found Jenny.”
“I didn’t get the impression that’s what Sajan meant. I believe it was before that.”
“But you’re not certain.”
She shook her head. “But I believe in my instincts. I believe that I’m good at what I do. Sometimes that’s all that I’ve had to hold on to.”
He stared at her. “I could almost believe you, too.” He grimaced. “What am I saying? Sorry, I refuse to be placed under suspicion by the blurred meanderings of your guardian coyote.”
She suddenly grinned. “There wouldn’t be any suspicion at all if you’d tell me the truth. Of course, I don’t expect you to do that. You must have had an important reason to be in the woods—important to you, at least. And you would have told Eve if it wasn’t confidential. I only wanted to know that you weren’t involved in Jenny’s death. That’s all I care about.”
“Is it?” He reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re fairly incredible.”
“That probably means you think I’m weird.”
“A little.” His hand dropped away from her face. “But a lot of people think I’m weird, too. It’s usually a question of choices. I’ve made some pretty bad ones.” He got up in one lithe movement. “But you’re not old enough to have made many mistakes.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “And I’m not about to let you start on my watch. No hitchhiking. I’ll drive you back to your hotel.”
“What if I’m not ready to go?”
“You’re ready.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t believe you were here communing with your coyote. I think you came out here because you knew I’d follow, and you wanted to talk to me.” He shook his head. “Do you always take chances like that?”
“I have to trust myself,” she said simply. “I don’t have anyone else.”